Zhangar

The great epic known as "The Song of Zhangar" was widespread among the Xalx and Oirad Mongols, especially among the Kalmyk of the Volga River. Scholars believe that this epic was composed prior to the departure of the Kalmyk people from the Altai region, as the epic's text includes a significant number of Central Asian place names - including Shira River, Xu'iten Shirxeg, the five mountains of Tagna, Erchis River, and the Altai Mountains.

The epic of Zhangar can be described as an "epic collection", consisting of a series of distinct stories in which Zhangar performs a connecting role. Unlike other epics, the Song of Zhangar does not present a single hero figure representing the clan or society, but there are heroes that take a prominent role in each of this epic's sections. The heroes of this epic may have their own stories and individual characteristics, but all come under Zhangar's control. The Song of Zhangar depicts a centralized state whose heroes have kept their conquered peoples as subjects one thousand and one years, in an Arcadian land in which there is no king to dictate and no enemy to tyrannize; in which there is no such thing as "mine" and "yours", the testing of a man's power or the checking of a horse's muscles; where everyone lives by a single rule; and where no one suffers from heat or cold, in the eternal summer.

CategoryEncyclopaediaMongolica

There are 0 attachment(s) stored for this page.